Psalm 10

1 Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.

9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.

13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

16 The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress. (KJV)

This psalm starts out as a prayer to God asking why God does not take action against the wicked. The psalmist asks God why he hides himself in times of trouble. The psalmist then describes what he sees as the characteristics of the wicked.

Characteristics of the Wicked:

• full of pride
• they hunt down the weak
• devises evil schemes.
• boastful against God
• seeks the cravings of his heart.
• bless the greedy
• reviles God and does not seek him.
• his ways seem prosperous.
• he sneers at his enemies.
• in his pride he is above God’s law
• in his pride nothing can shake him
• his mouth is full of cursing.
• he tells lies and uses threats.
• trouble and evil surround him
• he waits to ambush and destroy the innocent.
• he waits to catch the helpless and drags them off.
• he believes God does not care and that he does not see.
• God will not hold him accountable for his actions.

This psalm ends with a plea for God to arise and take action against the wicked and evil man and call him into account for what he has done. Then this happens man who is on the earth will no longer live in terror. This day will come when the Lord returns. Why the delay? Peter answers this in II Peter chapter three “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”. How should we live “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you”.

The way of the Lord is a mystery to the world.  The world places itself above God. God really does not exist to them; their hearts are even callous to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. They have no need of God, since they have set themselves up as god.  However, the one fact of life faces them as it does all man and that is death awaits us all.  For the ungodly this is the end, but for the Christian death is the door for our new life.  In I Corinthians 13:13 states “Three things will last forever Faith, Hope, and Love, but the greatest of these is Love.  Faith will become sight, hope becomes the fulfillment of all God’s promises, and love is the wonderful relationship we have now but will only grow greater the more we know our Lord in the future after we pass from this life to the next.